Practical aspects of undergraduate education in robotics

Abstract

The robotic domain is in a continuous and highly ascending development. Robots can be found in industry, in medicine, in the military domain, in domestic appliances, in research, in education and so on. Robots are situated at the intersection of several scientific and technological domains. Robots need mechanics (clamping systems, arms, dynamical behavior etc.), electromechanics (dc motors, ac motors, actuators etc.), electronics (amplifiers, servo systems, sensors etc.), hardware (digital circuits, microcontrollers, memory circuits etc.) and software (data processing, motion control, algorithms, artificial intelligence etc.). The education process in robotics is very complex. It must cover all the above mentioned sides. This paper presents some robots achieved at the Faculty of Automation and Computers and at the Faculty of Mechanics from “Politehnica” University of Timisoara, Romania. They were built as projects at the undergraduate study level.